Tape-serving device with inclined guide



'r. H. KRUEGER TAPE SERVING DEVICE WITH INCLINED GUIDE Filed March '4.1924 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1,638,81 6 9 1927' 'r. H. KRUEGER TAPE ssnvmdnnvxcn wmn momma GUIDE Filed March 4. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet z $151 mum 2722 24 Au 9 192 v g 7 T. H..KRUEGER TAPE SERVING DEVICE WITH INCLINEDGUIDE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March v4. 1924 -HHHaHn r.

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T. H. KRUEGER TAPE SERVING DEVICE WITH INCLINED vGUIDE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed March 4. 192 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Au 9,

'UNITED' STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Application fledIarch 4, 1824. Serial 30. 696,907.

This invention relates to paperservingmachines and more especially tomachines for serving gummed paper. strip in condition to be immediatelyapplied to a package or the like. One of the objects of the invention isto provide a machine of the type having an inclined tape guide whichconsiderably facilitates and cases the work of the operator, reduces theoverall length of the machine and secures other advantages. 7

Another object of this invention is to pro-. vide a means for servingpaper strip with its gummed surface properly moistened, in any desiredlength or lengths and to accomplish this service without spreading themoistening and material beyond the desiredconfines for the same.

It is also an object of this invention to providea serving device fromwhich 'complicated mechanism has been eliminated with a resultantincrease in the convenience and simplicity of its use, to provide adevice of such size and shape as to capable of most convenient locationand of use without involving the inconvenientfand unnatural movements onthe part of its operator invention to pro necessary with previousdevices.

More especially. it the purpose of this 'fde a machine capable ofserving paper strip: of widths, and in lengths, not conveniently handledin the device described in my co-pending application Serial No. 661,168,filed September 6,1923, and to effect certain improvements in themechanism and arrangement of that device as will be hereinafterdescribed.

Another object of the invention is to provide" a mach ne which" willautomatically serve a measured length of strip, and in which the lengthcan be readily increased or decreased a measured amount by manualoperation of the serving mechanism. In the accompanying drawings whichillustrate preferred forms of embodiment of the invention, like partshave been indicated by like numerals throughout'the several views:

4 Figure l-is a sectional elevation of one p slotted lengthwise for themajor portion of I device shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4c shows in plan the detail shown sectionally in Figure 3.

- Figure 5 is a plan-view of a further detail of the complete devicewith a portion thereof broken away for illustrative purposes.

Figure 6 shows in side elevation the detail showninFigure 5. a

Figure 7 is a sectional view of the detail shown in Fi e 6 on anenlarged scale.

Figure 8 1s a side view of the machine with parts) broken away takenfrom the side (B-PP( S1t6 to the one shown in Figure 1.

Figure 9 1s a perspective view of a portion of the scale and markergFigure 10 is a sectional view on the line 10,10 of FigureS. 5

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 1, the machinecomprises a pair of substantially triangular side frame members 20connected by cross members 21 and spaced apart a. sufiicient distance toreceive the tape serving mechanism therebetween. l p

This tape serving mechanism comprises, a roll supporting pan 12,supported from the cross members 21, which v,is'provided with aninclined bottom 12 which tends by gravity to keep the roll 10 which maybeinserted by merely pushing same in at the rear between the members 20in proper p0- sition in the pan. The roll 10 when in position in the pancontacts at one point with the bottom of the pan and at another pointwith the back of the pan or with one of the cross members 21 so as toprevent the unwinding of the strip 11 except when the strip is beingwithdrawn from theroll in the manner designed. The roll 10 of gummedpaper strip extends in a strip 11 its lengh as is illustrated in Figure5 to allow egripper 50 to extend through the slot and engage the paperstrip. A 'short portion at each end of the bottom guide member isunslotted and the rear unslotted end is bent, into the paper stripreceiving apron 32 which is bent around the cross .The strip feeder 40is shown particularly" in Figures 3 and 4 and comprises a slider base 41formed preferably from sheet metal, which passes. under the guide 30 andextends up over the edges of the guide to-form ears 42 which loosely fitupon the guide 30 to.

permit sliding of the feeder 40 thereon. Between the cars 42 portions ofthe base 41 are turned upward at substantially right angles to the bodyof the base to form bearings 43 for the pivot rod 44 which supports asheet metal finger piece 45 provided at either side thereof withdownwardly extending portions 46 pivoted on the rod 44. A

i pair of wings 47 extend rearwardly from the finger piece 45 to serveas stops to prevent the finger piece 45 from being turned too far by thespring 48 when released from the operators fingers. A portion struck outfrom the finger piece 45 is bent'downwardly and rearwardly under the rod44, then upwardly to contact with the main finger piece to form thegripper jaw 50.

When the finger piece 45 is grasped by the operator and pushed down thefinger piece turns on the pivot 44 and the member 50 is brought downthrough the slot 31 to grip the strip 11 between the member 50 and thebase 41 so that as the feeder 40 is pulled down the guide 30 the stripofpaper is fed forward under the knife 60 and.

through the moistener 80. When the hand is removed from the finger piece40, the spring 48 releases the gripper jaw 50 so that the feeder maybereturned to its starting point preparatory to feeding a new strip. Toautomatically return the feeder a coil spring 53 is secured at one endto the feeder and at the other end to a point 54 on the machine frameand is passed over a pulley 55 near the top of'the machine.

The cutter is turned over at its top to form a finger pressure plate 60and the cross piece-61 is secured to the frames 20 by the screws 62 toform the lower" blade of the cutting device and to. act as a support forthe lower end of the guide 30, a projection 63 extends outward from thecross piece 61 to form a support for the cutter 60 which is pivotedthereto by a' bolt 64 which also serves as a supportfor the cutterraising spring 65. A coil spring 67 is attached to the cutter 60 at theend remote from its pivot, and to the frame 20 at a point 68 for thepurpose of holding the edge of cutter 60 firmly against resents whichthe brush 85 projects and it is also 81 is provided with an opening 82from s provided with a projection 83-which serves j to guide the brush85 to its proper place and to hold it in operative position, when thebrush 85 is dropped into the. opening 82. To bring the paper stripsgummed surface into positive contact with the-hairs of brush 85,aweighted metal flap 88 is pivoted at its corners to the brackets 28 bymeans of the screws 89. a

Secured to the underside of cross piece 61 is a guide plate 91. When thebrush 85 and the container 81 are-in position, the brush hairs aresupported near their ends in such manner that the weighted flap88'presses the paper strip firmly against the brush hairs.

The butt end of the'brush extends into the V water in the container 81and the brush hairs form a capillary moisture conveyor which keeps thebrush hair ends continually supplied with moisture which the hair endsindividually spread upon the gummed surface of the paper strip. Thepositive pressure of the weighted fla 88 holds the paper strip againstthe natura resilience of the 'brush hairs, each hair end reaching adifierent point in the width of the paper strip, even and completemoistening is thus assured. The unavoidable unevenness and indentationsin the strip surface, which would prevent even moistening in a rollermoistener, do not effect at all the evenness of the moistening asperformed by the improved brush moistener herein described.

To hold the container 81 in the frame and to permit ready withdrawal ofthe same a latch 93 pivoted on the screws 89 is provided. A. curled lip95 on the container provides a hand grip by which the container may bedrawn from the frame.

For convenience in withdrawing a measured length of strip the machinemay he provided. with a scale 57 as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, andthe strip'feeder 40 may be provided with a pointer 40 by which the scalemay he read. V

Suitablemarkers 58 ma 7 e provided to frictionally engage the scaleportionftb mark any desired length of strip, and where the packagesbeing wrapped necessitate strips of different length markers ofdifferent color may be applied to the scale to assist the operator toreturn the strip feeder to the proper point to feed out the desiredlength. v For automatically stppping the return of ment of the feeder.

the feeder 40 in position to feed out length of strip -Which is lessthan the length .of the guides 30 a stop 96 be provided, comprising abase portion 97 adapted to be positioned below the guide and to supporta cushion pad 98 against which the base 41 slotted under portion of theguide 30 in such vice isplaced, but provide a non-slipping.

a way as to permit the paper strip to move in one direction only. i

The operation of the device shown is best described by reference toFigures 1 and 2. The strip serving device is usually mounted upon a deskor counter of such height as to be approximately at the end of theoperators arm as it hangs from his shoulder.

Frames 20 are preferably cast with feet 22 having key shaped slots 23into which rubber strips 24 are inserted to provide sup ports which willnot scratch the surfaces of.

the desks orcounters upon which the decontact with finely finisheddamage thereto. I

To serve a section of paper strip, the operator reaches forward andupward, grasps surfaces without 7 the finger piece as indicated at 100.The

weight of the operators hand depresses this finger piece 45 and forcesthe jaw downward, clamping the paper strip 11 againstthe gripper base 41as shown in Figure 3.

The operator then sweeps his hand downward in a natural swing to theposition indicated at 102 in Fi ure 1-, this pulls paper strip 11 fromthe roll 10 over the apron 32 into the guide 30 and at the same timepushes the length of strip in the guide 30 under the cutter 6.0 throughthe moistener and projects the strip therefrom .as indicated by thedotted lines at 104. The operator then merely raises his fingers torelease the finger piece 45 whereupon the spring 48 releases the grip ofthe' jaw 50 on the paper strip and spring 53 draws the feeder back toits ori inal position at the top 'of the guides. arm the operatorsfingers strike the pressure plate 60*, as shown at 106 and the slightpressure depresses the cutter 60 to sever the paper strip. The end ofthe strip will, however, be held by the flap 88 and the brush untilwithdrawn by a further movement on the part of the operator.

It is' to benoted that the slope of the ith the continued swing ofhisguide 30 is approximately'tangent to the are through whichonels handwill travel when swinging naturally from the shoulder, and

- that by a natural swing of the arm and hand the finger piece 45 isdepressed, thestrip fed forward,' the cutter operated and the hand swungout to receive and apply the moistened strip which has been projectedfrom the machine.

By thus; providing a machine which may be operated by the naturalmovement .of the hand, the fatigue to the operator who stands at themachine wrapping packages all day, is materially lessened and the numberof packages which he is able to wrap.

per unit of time is also increased. The use ofan inclined guide 30instead of a hori' zontal guide permits the use of a longer guide thanis possible in a horizontal guide machine, without increasing theoverall length of the machine.

The length ofthe travel of strip feeder 40, and hence the length ofpaper strip projected at one complete stroke may be controlled byshifting the stop 96 but it will be understood that a number of strokes,or only a measured portion of one stroke may be performed to project theexact length of strip required before the cutter 60 is operated.

Thus it' will be seen that means have been provided for projectingmeasured adjustedlengths and that this same means is operable to projectany other length desired withoutdisturbing the aforesaid adjustment.

As only one hand is required to operate the strip projecting, moistcningand cuttinginvention reveals many improvements in paper strip servingand that the ratchets, gears, levers and rollers previously associatedwith such mechanism have been dispensed with, that the elimination ofthe complicated and intricate mechanism has so simplified the devicethat its is adapted to a far broader held of use with greater efficiencyin any field.

It is, of course, understood that the embodiment'shown is forillustrative purposes only and that changes and modifications may bemade in the complete mechanism or in the parts which form the elementsthereof, without departing from the spirit of the invention of the scopeof the appended claims. v

I claim:

1. In a strip server of the type described including a severing deviceand a. moistener, the combination of a roll'holder, a straight inclinedflattened tubular strip guide having a slot through the upper and lowerwalls thereof, a hand-actuated strip feeder movable in a fixed pathalong the outside of said guide, and means on said strip feeder to,project into said slots to feed thestrip through said guide.

In a strip server of the type described, an inclined strip guide havingslots through the upper and lower walls thereof, a carriage slidablealong the outer side of said guide. inf-ans on the carriage to grasp thestrip through said slots to advance the same and feed it from the lowerend of the guide, means at the bottom of the guide to sever the strip,and means to moisten the strip after it has passed the severing means.

3. In a strip server of the type described, an inclined flattened stripguide, a slot in the walls of said guide, a strip feeder em bracing saidguide and slidable along the same, and means on the strip feederprojecting into said slot to feed the strip through the guide, means tomoisten the strip, and means to sever the strip which has been fed fromthe guide.

at. In a strip serving device of the type described, a'strip guide,means to advance the strip therethrough, a scale adjacent the guide, anduniversally adjustable stop means for stopping the strip-advancing meansto automatically measure off desired lengths of strip.

5. In a strip server of the type described, the combination of a rollholder, an inclined strip guide having a slot through the upper andlower walls thereof, a strip feeder embracing said guide and relativelymovable in a straight line along the same,

strip gripping means on said stripfeeder.

adapted to grip the tape through said slots, a severing dOV1CQ, amoistenmg unit, and

means to permit the moistening unit to be re-.

moved from and replaced in the stripserver. 6. A strip serving device,comprising a pair of substantially triangular frame mem bers meansconnecting the two members, a guide for tape comprising a tubular stripof sheet metal having a longitudinal slot through the walls thereofalong an inclined side of said triangular frame members, a strip servingdevice embracing said guide and movable on said guide, and moisteningmechanism between said frame members.

7. A strip serving device, comprising a pair of substantially triangularframe members, means connectin the two members, and a strip servingmechanism therebetween, including a strip guide having slots there in,and a strip server movable along. an incl ned side of said frame membersand adapted to grasp the tape through said slots in the guide to servethe strip.

8. In a strip server of the type described, the combination of a pair ofsubstantially right angle triangular frame members, an inclined stripguide between said members having a slot in the upper and lower vw allsthereof, means to feed the strip through said guide comprising acarriage slidable on said guide, and a strip moistening unit at thelower end of said guide slidable into and out of operative positionbetween said frame members. 4

9. In a strip server of the type described,

a straight inclined-flattened strip guide having walls formed to providea slot through a part only of its length; slidable means embracing saidguide and projecting into said slot to feed the strip through the guide,a

stop member on an unslotted portion of said guide and cooperatingtherewith to prevent movement of the strip in the other 'direction;means to moisten the strip and means to sever the strip which has beenfed from the guide In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature tothis specification:

THEODORE H. K UEGER',

